Hampton Company Instrumental In Giving Gift Of Hearing To 8-year-old Boy In Need

January 18, 1990|By MELANIE S. HATTER Staff Writer

Getting something for nothing is very rare these days, and when it happens there's often a catch. But not for Ruby and Steven McBride and their hearing-impaired son, Houston.

Lynn Ledford, who operates the Beltone hearing aid store in Hampton, was instrumental in obtaining a new hearing aid for 8-year-old Houston when the McBrides couldn't afford to buy a replacement for his broken aid.

The family had gone to Beltone hoping to get the hearing aid repaired. Ledford was unable to repair it and suggested they purchase a new one. But they just didn't have the money.

Rather than have Houston suffer without a hearing aid, Ledford decided to find the funds to get him a new one. A board member of the Virginia Hearing Aid Dealers Association, she contacted the members and suggested money be used from the A.V. Mayes Fund, which was established for children in need. The suggestion was accepted, and Houston received a high-powered Beltone hearing aid worth $790.

"It was quite a shock. She is too good to be true," says Ruby of Ledford.

The McBrides came to Hampton from Kentucky to enroll their son in the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. The move was to avoid having Houston live away from home at a special school, says Ruby.

In Kentucky, there were no local facilities for deaf children, therefore, she found herself traveling 100 miles daily to take him to an instructor who taught one other student.

Houston loves school and adapted very well says his mother who commends his teachers. But he does miss his dog, Fido. "That dog knew sign language. Houston would tell her to stop and sit and she would do it. They'd sit and play together," she says.

With the possible closure of the state school, Ruby worries her family will have to move again to another area but she is determined to keep her son at home.